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BRIDGETON – Cumberland County Democrats are exchanging insults and allegations over a Board of Freeholders decision to postpone action on possibly revamping county jail policies related to the coronavirus epidemic.

At its work session Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled freeholder board voted 6-1 to table action on four proposals from Democratic Freeholder Jack Surrency. The delay is until the June 16 board work session.

“These votes by my colleagues represent politics at its worst,” Surrency stated on Wednesday. “I presented a plan, a plan that’s being used in other places, to test, treat, and track COVID in our county jails. I’m naming names. There’s too much at stake.”

Surrency called out Freeholder Director Joseph Derella and Freeholders Carol Musso, George Castellini, Darlene Barber and James Quinn. All are Democrats.

Surrency said the five freeholders “sold out our jail, putting their egos before the health and safety of our corrections officers, staff and inmates.”

Surrency did not cite newly elected Freeholder Douglas Albrecht. A Republican, Albrecht also voted to table the resolutions.

Surrency's description of his measures as “blocked” angered Derella. The statement “completely misrepresents” what took place at the meeting Tuesday, the freeholder director said.

“Freeholder Surrency proposed four, poorly worded and researched resolutions for the board’s consideration without supplying any of the information necessary for the board to discharge the board its duty to the public to intelligently consider and vote on those resolutions,” Derella stated.

Jody Hirata, deputy county administrator, separately on Wednesday said the freeholder director told Surrency to consult with jail management and county administrative staff over the next month to come up with details such as costs to implement his ideas.

At public meetings, a motion to “table” a proposal does not defeat it but does put off consideration. The reasons to do so and the lengths of delay vary, but tabling is not unusual.

The Surrency resolutions, drafted by the freeholder rather than by county staff, call for the following.

Hazard pay for corrections officers dating back to March 9. He did not specify the cost.

Mandatory weekly reports on stocks of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, as well as reports on pending equipment orders.

Weekly testing for corrections officers and civilian employees.

Establish protocols for gaining for access to testing.

Weekly public disclosure of testing results on officers, other staff, and inmates.

Immediate adoption of New Jersey Attorney General guidelines and updating county policies to comply within 90 days.

In his release, Derella called the measures “more of a political stunt than a serious proposal.”

“Freeholder Surrency was totally unprepared to give the board any indication as to the budgetary impact of his proposals and appeared completely uninformed on the current availability of testing, tracking or PPE (personal protective equipment,” Derella said.

The Cumberland County Democratic Organization on Wednesday joined the attack on Surrency, with further comments from Derella.

Surrency is a first-term Democratic freeholder. The board has a Democratic majority, but he presently is running on a splinter ticket for a second term after a recent falling out with his party.

“Jack has been a freeholder for 870 days and this was his first attempt to pass legislation,” Derella said. “His political handlers however, did a poor job of preparing him as Jack was unaware of legal restrictions, costs, and lacked a plan for implementation. I would have hoped in his 870 days as freeholder he would have learned that is not how a responsible government operates.”

Joe Smith is a Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer at The Daily Journal in Vineland. Have a news tip? Reach out at (856) 563-5252 or jsmith@thedailyjournal.com or follow me on Twitter, @jpsmith-dj. Help support local journalism with a subscription to The Daily Journal.